Panthers of Brigantia Shifter Box Set
Page 42
“What do you mean?”
“You were just a sweet, lost druid who needed someone to be there for her. It is hard to carry the world on your shoulders, and you always deserved better than you got. I’ve never known anyone as strong, sweet, and honest as you.” He stepped away from her. “Let’s eat before this gets cold.”
Heaven paused for a moment as he put the food onto their plates. Without thinking, she wrapped her arms around his waist. “I don’t want to be hurt anymore, but if I can stay here like this, I never want to go back. I want don’t want to return to that life.”
Caspian loosened her arms so that he could turn to face her. Taking her head in his hands, he kissed the top of her head. “I’m not going to leave you alone again. As long as you are willing to put up with me after what you had to endure.”
Heaven began to cry into his shirt. Stroking her hair softly, he murmured, “I know, it’s a lot to take in. You have all the time in the world. I’m not going anywhere unless you force me out. Well…”
Heaven looked up, the apprehension clear on her face.
“I will have to go back for the birth of the baby. And I’m sure that Orion and Phoenix could use some help figuring out their next move. But that is probably still a few months away. It would be nice if you would go back with me to help.”
Heaven began to laugh, then buried her face in his shirt. Caspian wrapped his arms around her. “The woman who lifted the real curse. How many curses did I try to right, but never seemed to succeed for long?” He tilted her head up to look at him. “It’s really concerning that I was that thick.” He leaned down and gently kissed her.
Heaven wrapped her arms around his neck. His arms moved around her back, lifting her off the ground. Turning her, he carefully placed her on the countertop. She wrapped her legs around him.
“Wait.” He pulled back a little. “The food you spent so much time cooking is going to get cold.”
“I can always make more.” She smiled up at him, an expression of hope and fear on her face.
“You still don’t believe it is me?”
She bit her lip.
Caspian slipped out of her reach. “Then it’s time to eat. I’m not going to take advantage of you when you are so vulnerable now just as I wouldn’t in those early days. Come on.”
He picked up the plates and placed them on the table. Caspian’s eyes were expectant as Heaven remained on the counter, torn between disappointment and uncertainty. Finally, she hopped down and moved over to the table. Caspian was lively as he talked about making changes to the hedge maze. He felt that a pool at the heart would add an extra level of incentive to be careful.
Heaven laughed, “That’s only a deterrent to cat shifters.”
“But it is a very effective deterrent. And you never know when one of those blighters will show up and just ruin everything. So I think it is a good idea to prepare.”
“Do you really think that a cat shifter is going to just wander onto a completely different plane?”
Caspian stroked his chin, “I hate to point out that you have already had several here, including one that seems to have taken up residence. And I can tell you from experience, that one is going to be a real pain to remove.” Heaven laughed. Caspian waved his fork around, “And I know three of those guys staggered into Nowhere, so it’s not impossible that a cat shifter would take that one step further and make it here.”
“They’re as likely to end up in the Judges’ world as here. Or any one of a million other places.”
“There is still a chance. And again, I hate to point it out, but you already have one who knows how to get here on his own. All it takes is one.”
Heaven smiled at him, “I would be fine with you bringing friends here. Some of them. Not all of them.”
“You don’t need to worry. I would only bring friends that you know and approve of.” He leaned over and kissed her. “But you will want to be careful. Ignacio’s instincts told him to use Nowhere as a storage place.”
“What?” Heaven dropped her fork. “Why would anyone—I don’t understand.”
Caspian laughed, “That’s why we need a pool. It’s impossible to understand the mind of a cat shifter.”
He collected her plate and began to clean up the kitchen. Looking over his shoulder, he smiled at her. “It is good to see you feeling so much better.”
“Well, like you, I am incredibly hard to kill.”
“And that was the first thing that I remembered.”
“That I’m hard to kill?”
Caspian laughed, “No. The peaceful look on your face; even as I removed the arrow, you didn’t flinch. That is the expression you have when you fight. You accept what you have to do, but you don’t take pleasure in it. Stoic. That’s the word. Calm and stoic. That triggered a whole lot of memories.”
Heaven jumped up on the countertop. “So, with the appearance of death, you remembered who I was?”
“Don’t twist my words.”
“What did you do after that? I mean, there were still so many Unwashed.”
“Ah, yes, well, I let the lads and ladies kill a few of them.”
Heaven laughed, “Just what is that supposed to mean?”
Caspian looked over at her, “I admired your stoic approach because I cannot be that detached. When I am angry, I am vicious. And seeing you like that, I don’t think that I have ever been so angry in my entire life.”
Heaven scooted over, the water from the dishes getting her gown damp.
“Hey, be careful. I don’t want you to get hurt.” Caspian moved the dishes out of the way and noticed the water. “Oh, you had best go change.”
Heaven looked down. “It’s fine.”
Caspian pulled her off the counter. “Go change before you end up sick or… before you end up uncomfortable.”
“Will you come with me?” The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them.
Caspian stopped what he was doing. Leaning against the counter, he asked, “Am I real?”
Heaven nodded.
He looked at her, a gentle expression on his face. “Prove it.”
“Only the real Caspian would see water on my gown and try to send me off to get cleaned up. Every other Caspian would either let me be uncomfortable or would offer to take off my clothes.”
Caspian walked toward her. His hands cupped her face as he leaned down to kiss her.
She pulled her mouth away a little, “So, will you?”
His eyes opened and he looked at her. “Will I what?”
“Will you come with me to change before I get uncomfortable?”
“If that is what you want.”
She closed her eyes and nodded.
Carefully, he lifted her off the ground. “Nothing would make me happier.”
Gently, he placed her on the bed, his body slowly covering her own. His tongue slid into her mouth, and Heaven moaned as her hips pushed against his. He kissed her check and down to her ear. “I love you, Caspian. I have loved you for so many lifetimes.”
He gave her a light kiss before looking down at her. “I am sorry that it took me so long to get around to saying it, but I have loved you for nearly as long. Over all those years, I knew something was missing. It was only when you were with me that I felt at peace, and after you saved me again, I remembered why.” His hands slid under her gown, and Heaven shivered at his light touch along her skin. “I love you, Heaven.”
Taja’s Dragon (Preview)
By: Lisa Daniels
Chapter 1
Nothing out of the Ordinary
Taja pulled the bundled-up items to her chest and tried to speed up, despite the crowd around her. The market was always impossibly busy at this time of day, and the acting stable master knew it. Still, he had told her not to be late after giving her all of the chores. Hating that the real stable master had been needed at the noble’s country mansion for a few months to deliver two new foals and take care of them, Taja took comfort in the fact that it w
ouldn’t be much longer before he returned. She just had to hold out for another week or two and then everything would go back to normal.
Her blonde hair shone like sunshine, a few stray strands dangling beside her face as the young woman pressed forward. It would be her twenty-first birthday soon, but she had no expectations. The stable master was the only person in her life that actually seemed to care about what happened to her, and he would not be back in time. Not that she wanted to celebrate. The stable master had been like the father she had never known, so she just wanted him to come back so the nightmare that had been her job without him would end. One of the other stable hands had taken to harassing her in the stable master’s absence, and the acting master wasn’t about to do anything to stop the boy. Taja had plenty of experience keeping boys like that away, but it was wearing on her. That and her mother’s steady decline into the bottle. Taja didn’t feel sorry for herself. She just needed that one ray of sunshine back that had made life worth living.
Taja was not a tall woman, just barely over five feet tall. The first impression people had of her was that she resembled a large doll. Despite working outside, her skin was pale and soft. Her large brown eyes were surrounded by thick lashes that combined with her unnaturally yellow hair, hinting that she was perhaps not fully human. The perfect symmetry of her dainty features was striking, and it had gotten her into plenty of trouble when she was young. It was only after she met the stable master that Taja had calmed down and started trying to make a better life for herself. That had been three years ago. Until that point, she had been a complete mess, sleeping with any boy who would give her gifts and expensive items. Her mother had used her daughter as much as possible, turning expensive gifts into high debts with many of the taverns. The stable master had given the young woman something worth living for outside of her different types of abuse.
It was times like these as she was darting through the crowds that Taja was really thankful for being so small. She was able to more easily slip through spaces between people.
Still not fast enough. I’m going to be late. Her mind was already calculating her distance and current rate of speed. Moving her legs a little faster, she shifted to the outside of the crowd. It was risky, particularly since she would be moving so close to the carriages and horses, but it was the only way she was going to get through the crowd in time.
As soon as she reached the outside of the crowd, Taja’s speed more than doubled. With a grin on her face, the young woman hurried past the throng.
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Table of Contents
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Chapter 1
The End of a Long, Ill-Advised Trip
Chapter 2
Give, Take, and an Unexpected Reaction
Chapter 3
A Push, a Surprise, and a Quick Getaway
Chapter 4
A Little Wager
Chapter 5
Outline of a Plan
Chapter 6
Reflection, Reconnaissance, and a Quick Lesson
Chapter 7
A Different Side of Darius
Chapter 8
A Roiling Rage and a Change of Heart
Chapter 9
Coming to Terms in the Aftermath
Chapter 10
A New Phase, a New Life
Chapter 1
Well-Intentioned Eavesdropping
Chapter 2
The Question of Emotions and Honesty
Chapter 3
A Round of Disappointing Discussions
Chapter 4
Stolen Time
Chapter 5
In Another’s Service
Chapter 6
An Unusual Mission and an Unexpected Confession
Chapter 7
The Distance between Perception and Purpose
Chapter 8
A Glimpse into His Past
Chapter 9
No Rest
Chapter 10
A Confession and a Savior
Prologue
The Art of Patience
Chapter 1
A Painful Return and a Shattered Mind
Chapter 2
Starting from Scratch
Chapter 3
A Complicated Connection of Sacrifice
Chapter 4
Struggling to Do What’s Expected
Chapter 5
Easy First Steps
Chapter 6
Searching Through the Past for Answers
Chapter 7
Acting to Restore Balance
Chapter 8
An Obvious Solution
Chapter 9
A Request and Another Heart
Chapter 10
A Successful Plan and the Hunt for an Old Friend
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Prologue
The Small Problem of Imprisonment
Chapter 1
The Return
Chapter 2
What He Needs
Chapter 3
A Rough Start
Chapter 4
It Has to Work
Chapter 5
Mistakes Abound
Chapter 6
Heaven’s Choice
Chapter 7
Two-Fold
Chapter 8
Long-Standing Questions
Chapter 9
Worlds Collide
Chapter 10
You Should Have Said